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'Virtual' Credit Cards
Protect Online Shoppers

Internet shopper Roger So relies on a 16-digit tool to prevent his personal information from being stolen: a single-use, "virtual" credit-card number.

When shopping online, the 52-year-old information-technology consultant periodically uses this randomly generated number -- provided by his credit-card issuer, Citigroup Inc. -- in place of his actual account information because, he says, it "gives me one more line of security."